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Obadiah 1

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1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord Jehovih* as·​·to Edom; We have heard a report from Jehovah, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, Rise· ye ·up, and let us Rise·​·up against her into battle.

2 Behold, I have made thee small among the nations; thou art exceedingly despised.

3 The presumptuousness of thy heart has beguiled thee, thou who inhabitest the fissures of the rock, on·​·high is his dwelling; saying in his heart, Who shall bring· me ·down to the earth?

4 If thou make· thyself ·lofty as the eagle, and if thou set thy nest between the stars, thence will I bring· thee ·down, says Jehovah.

5 If thieves came to thee, if devastators by night—oh, how thou wilt be cut·​·off—would they not steal until they had enough? If the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave a cluster for the gleaning?

6 How are the things of Esau searched out!—his secret things discovered!

7 All the men of thy covenant have sent· thee ·away even·​·to the border; the men of thy peace have beguiled thee, and prevailed against thee; thy bread they have set as a wound under thee. There is no understanding in him.

8 Shall I not in that day, says Jehovah, even make· the wise men out·​·of Edom ·perish, and understanding out·​·of the mountain of Esau?

9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be·​·dismayed, so·​·that a man from the mountain of Esau may be cut·​·off by killing.

10 For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut·​·off for eternity.

11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers took· his forces ·captive, and foreigners came into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.

12 But thou shouldest not have looked on in the day of thy brother, in the day that he became a foreigner; and thou shouldest not have·​·been·​·glad over the sons of Judah in the day they perished; and thou shouldest not have magnified thy mouth in the day of adversity.

13 Thou shouldest not have come into the gate of My people in the day of their downfall; even thou shouldest not have looked on their evil in the day of his downfall, and thou shouldest not have put·​·forth hands on his belongings in the day of his downfall;

14 neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut·​·off those of his who escaped; neither shouldest thou have closed·​·in those his survivors in the day of adversity.

15 For the day of Jehovah is near upon all the nations; as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy recompense shall return upon thine own head.

16 For as you have drunk upon the mountain of My holiness, so shall all the nations drink continually, and they shall drink, and they shall swallow·​·down, and they shall be as though they had not been.

17 But upon Mount Zion shall be escape, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall inflame them, and devour them; and there shall not be a survivor for the house of Esau; for Jehovah has spoken.

19 And they of the south shall possess the mountain of Esau, and they of the lowland the Philistines; and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria; and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

20 And the exile of this host of the sons of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even·​·to Zarephath; and the exile of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.

21 And saviours shall come·​·up on Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau; and the kingdom shall be Jehovah’s.


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Exploring the Meaning of Obadiah 1

Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff

In Obadiah 1, the sole chapter in this book, there's a prophecy of destruction for Edom. The people of the land of Edom -- the Edomites -- were descendants of Esau, so they were cousins and neighbors of the Jewish people.

In Swedenborg's sketch of the internal sense of this part of the Word, (The Inner Meaning of the Prophets and Psalms 213), we find this:

- Edom represents people who are in self-intelligence and who pervert the sense of the letter of the word.

- In Obadiah 1:1-3, They must be combated, because they believe themselves to be more intelligent than others.

- In 1:4-5, They defend falsities by natural light, but they will perish, and with them, the falsities themselves.

- In 1:6, They have pride.

- In 1:7, They have no truths.

- In 1:8-9, They will perish on the day of judgment, because they have oppressed the church.

- In 1:10-14, They destroy the church still further, and this is their delight.

- In 1:15-16, Destruction will come upon them on the day of judgment.

- In 1:17, A new church will come into existence.

- In 1:18, in place of the former church, which is condemned.

- In 1:19-21, The new church will be in the understanding of truth, and those that are in it will be saved.

This story was written around 2600 years ago. There were people alive then who were impressed with their own intelligence. They didn't respect the Word's inner meaning, and twisted its literal meaning. In Obadiah 1:10, we see them even taking delight in destroying true ideas.

Today, maybe it's easier than ever to be impressed by our own intelligence, because we can do so much. We're putting vehicles on Mars, and making robots that can do back flips. But how should we regard the Word? We need to look at its deep meaning, to really understand spiritual truths -- so that we have the fundamental spiritual wisdom to hold and harness our intelligence -- and to be part of the Lord's church, where we're open to receiving his good and truth, and living by it.

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Obadiah 1:18

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18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.